Harrison man accused of assault

A 49-year-old Harrison man accused of trying to stab a Vandergrift woman in her residence Sunday was arrested Tuesday night.

Vandergrift police said Anthony Michael
Irwin of Neeley Street had been hiding in a wooded area before he was
spotted by police. Three Vandergrift officers arrested him.

Irwin was arraigned and sent to the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of bond pending a preliminary hearing in May.

Irwin's attack was “so violent that the
steak knife blade snapped away from the handle,” said Patrolman Richard
Gray, who investigated the Sunday assault.

He said the 40-year-old victim received defensive wounds to her arm and hand.

According to court papers, Irwin also is
accused of attempting to strangle, punch and slap the woman before she
was able to shove him out the door, lock it, and summon police on the
cellphone he had tried to damage.

Irwin is charged with two counts of felony
aggravated assault, three counts of simple assault and one count of
reckless endangerment.

He was already on probation after pleading guilty to assaulting the same woman.

In December, he was sentenced to a jail
term and two years of probation. A county judge gave him credit for
serving 104 days in jail and permitted his probation to start
immediately, records show.

In 1990 Irwin was sentenced to 4 to 20 years
for third-degree murder in Allegheny County. According to the state
Department of Corrections, Irwin was paroled on Dec. 5, 1993, but was
returned to state prison on Jan. 13, 2005, for a parole violation. He
was reparoled on Dec. 26, 2006.

Chuck Biedka is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4711 or cbiedka@tribweb.com.